Fiber termination in light peak lenses

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of the invention describe optical cable housings including fiber termination units to couple optical fibers components to lenses. As in prior art solutions, embodiments of the invention utilize said fiber termination units to couple and optically align the optical fiber to the lenses; however, embodiments of the invention include flat-sided structures to more securely couple the optical fiber to the lenses; furthermore, said structures are more suitable for mass manufacturing compared to prior art solutions. 
     Discussion herein of connectors and receptacles refers to providing a mechanical and communicative connection. The mating of the connector/receptacle may be facilitated via housing and alignment structural features, and typically includes contact of the electrical contacts and alignment of fiber optical signal transmission elements. The connection interface may further allow either electrical and/or optical input/output (I/O) via the different interfaces incorporated within connector housing according to embodiments of the invention.

RELATED APPLICATION

This Application is a Continuation of, and claims the benefit of, U.S.patent application Ser. No. 13/048,538, filed Mar. 15, 2011.

FIELD

Embodiments of the invention generally pertain to optical interconnectsand more particularly to optical fiber housings.

BACKGROUND

As peripheral device speeds increase, copper wire cables struggle tokeep up with the corresponding bandwidth demands. Current devicecommunication specifications based on copper wire are updated byincreasing the number of wires in interconnecting cables, restrictingcable length, and adhering to strict signaling standards in order tokeep pace with evolving peripheral devices.

The use of light transmissions as a communication medium and as anenergy medium is increasing, and thus so has the use of optical fibercable as a transmission medium to guide light transmissions. There are anumber of advantages optical cables have over their copper counterparts.Optical fibers can transmit data at a higher rate, over longer distancesand in a smaller volume compared to copper wires.

Current optical cable connector solutions, specifically optical fibertermination and lens coupling, consist solely of through-hole andrefractive index-matching adhesive solutions. These solutions are notsuitable for mass production or extended use. In particular, it isunderstood that through holes are relatively circular holes formed foran optical fiber to be “threaded” through; the circular shape of theseholes means that there will be manufacturing inconsistencies (i.e.,defects) that occur during mass production (e.g., abnormal curvaturespreventing precise optical alignment). Therefore it is undesirable torely solely on through holes to optically align optical fibers tolenses. What is needed is an optical fiber termination solution thatreduces potential manufacturing issues, eases quality control concerns,and improves connector housing durability as optical cable use becomesmore common.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The following description includes discussion of figures havingillustrations given by way of example of implementations of embodimentsof the invention. The drawings should be understood by way of example,and not by way of limitation. As used herein, references to one or more“embodiments” are to be understood as describing a particular feature,structure, or characteristic included in at least one implementation ofthe invention. Thus, phrases such as “in one embodiment” or “in analternate embodiment” appearing herein describe various embodiments andimplementations of the invention, and do not necessarily all refer tothe same embodiment. However, they are also not necessarily mutuallyexclusive.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram and cross-section of an embodiment of theinvention.

Descriptions of certain details and implementations follow, including adescription of the figures, which may depict some or all of theembodiments described below, as well as discussing other potentialembodiments or implementations of the inventive concepts presentedherein. An overview of embodiments of the invention is provided below,followed by a more detailed description with reference to the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the invention describe optical cable housings includingfiber termination units to couple optical fibers components to lenses.As in prior art solutions, embodiments of the invention utilize saidfiber termination units to couple and optically align the optical fiberto the lenses; however, embodiments of the invention include structuresto more securely couple the optical fiber to the lenses; furthermore,said structures are more suitable for mass manufacturing compared toprior art solutions.

Discussion herein of connectors and receptacles refers to providing amechanical and communicative connection. The mating of theconnector/receptacle may be facilitated via housing and alignmentstructural features, and typically includes contact of the electricalcontacts and alignment of optical fiber signal transmission elements.The connection interface may further allow either electricalinput/output (I/O) or optical I/O or both via the different interfacesincorporated within connector housings according to embodiments of theinvention.

The electrical protocols or standards that may be used by embodiments ofthe invention may include, but are not limited to, universal serial bus(USB, standard or mini, e.g. USB 3.0 Specification published Nov. 12,2008), high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI, e.g. HDMISpecification Version 1.4a published Mar. 4, 2010), or DisplayPort(e.g., DisplayPort version 1.2 published Dec. 22, 2009). It is to beunderstood that each different standard may include a differentconfiguration or pinout for the above described assemblies.Additionally, the size, shape and configuration of housings may bedependent on the standard, including tolerances for the mating of thecorresponding connectors/receptacles. Thus, the layout of a connectorthat integrates optical I/O with electrical I/O may be different for thevarious standards. As will be understood by those of skill in the art,optical interfaces require line-of-sight connections to have an opticalsignal transmitter interface with a receiver (both may be referred to aslenses). Thus, the configuration of the connector will be such that thelenses are not obstructed by the corresponding electrical contactassemblies. For example, optical interface lenses can be positioned tothe sides of the contact assemblies, or above or below, depending onwhere space is available within the connector housing.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the invention. Opticalfiber cable unit 100 includes plug lens assembly 130, a connectorhousing to receive optical fiber cables 110 and 115, each of whichcomprise a cover sheath and a portion of exposed optical fiberterminated at the end of the cable (e.g., clean cleaved fiber). Pluglens assembly 130 may comprise any metal or plastic suitable formolding, and may be shaped in any manner corresponding to a receptacleto receive said assembly; for example, plug lens assembly may correspondto an I/O interface for computing devices and peripherals, and mayconform to a variety of I/O protocols and standards for electricaland/or optical data transfer.

In this embodiment, plug lens assembly 130 includes fiber terminationunit (i.e., fiber housing) 140 to couple fibers 110 and 115 to LightPeak (LPK) lenses 120 and 125, respectively. Said lenses may direct orre-direct light transmissions for a receptacle to receive plug lensassembly 130, and said lenses may comprise any appropriate material,including plastic, glass, silicon, or other materials that can be shapedand provide optical focusing.

In this embodiment, fiber termination unit 140 includes through holes150 and 155. Fibers 110 and 115 are to be inserted into fibertermination unit 140 via these through holes. In the prior art, opticalcable housings include through holes that extend through the entirehousing up to the lens (or a stop surface to the lens). Thus, throughholes are relied upon in the prior art to optically align the insertedoptical fiber to the lens. It is understood that relying solely onthrough holes to optically align optical fiber to a lens is not anoptimal solution for mass production; said through holes will not alwaysbe manufactured in a consistent, circular shape. Furthermore, insertionof fiber into the through hole may cause variations within the circularthrough hole that may lead to misalignment between the optical fiber andthe lens (i.e., the optical axis of the fiber will not be aligned withthe optical axis of the lens).

In contrast to the prior art, fiber termination unit 140 includes cavity190 accessible by fibers 110 and 115 via through holes 150 and 155,respectively. Grooves 160 and 165 are further included in cavity 190;the grooves correspond to through holes 150 and 155, respectively, andare responsible for optically aligning said fibers to the lenses asdescribed below.

Each of grooves 160 and 165 includes at least two flat sides, furtherdescribed below. In contrast to the prior art, these flat sides areunderstood to be less prone to manufacturing defects compared tocircular through holes, and are less prone to wearing variations fromrepeated insertion and/or removal of optical fiber. Thus, it is to beunderstood that relying upon grooves 160 and 165 to optical alignoptical fibers 110 and 115 to lenses 120 and 125, respectively, producesa solution more suitable for mass production and quality control.

In order to keep fibers 110 and 115 in place (i.e., optically alignedwith their respective lenses), fiber pusher 170 may be utilized. Fiberpusher 170 is formed to at least partially fill cavity 190 and to “pressdown” on optical fibers 110 and 115 to the two flat sides of grooves 160and 165, respectively. Fiber pusher 170 may include a flat surface topress down on each fiber, as described below. Thus, while fibertermination unit 140 includes through holes 150 and 155, they merelyprovide general alignment for the inserted optical fibers relative tothe position of lenses 120 and 125; it is grooves 160 and 165, incombination with fiber pusher 170, which are designed to optically alignthe inserted optical fibers with lenses 120 and 125 and to securely holdsaid inserted optical fibers in place.

It is to be understood that while this embodiment is shown to include asingle cavity housing two optical fibers, other embodiments may includeindividual cavities and fiber pushers for each optical fiber to beinserted into a fiber termination unit.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the invention. In thisembodiment, optical fibers 110 and 115 are shown to be inserted intocavity 190 via through holes 150 and 155, respectively. Fibers 110 and115 are further placed on grooves 160 and 165, respectively, and will beoptically aligned when a fiber pusher (not shown in this figure) isinserted into cavity 190.

In this embodiment, refractive index matching gel 299 may be applied atthe tips of fibers 110 and 115. It is understood that the refractiveindex matching gel will help promote antireflection between the tips offibers 110 and 115 and lenses 120 and 125, thereby eliminating orreducing optical loss between the fibers and the lenses. In oneembodiment, refractive index matching gel 299 has a refractive indexbetween 1.45 and 1.60.

It is to be understood that refractive index matching gel 299 does notcontribute to the secure coupling of fibers 110 and 115 into fibertermination unit 140, nor does it contribute to the secure coupling ofsaid fibers to lenses 120 and 125. Thus, in contrast to prior artsolutions, refractive index matching gel 299 does not necessarily haveto be an adhesive agent. In this embodiment, general adhesive 289 may beapplied in cavity 190 to further help couple fibers 110 and 115 ontogrooves 160 and 165, respectively, and help securely couple the fiberpusher to cavity 190. In other embodiments, general adhesive 289 is notused.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the invention. In thisexample, fiber pusher 370 is molded to “press-fit” into cavity 190, andpresses against fibers 110 and 115 in order to securely couple them tolenses 120 and 125, respectively. It is to be understood that havingfiber pusher 370 molded to be “press-fit” into cavity 190 may eliminatethe need for a general adhesive (e.g., general adhesive 289 as shown inFIG. 2) to be utilized in cavity 190. To further reinforce the couplingof fibers 110 and 115 to fiber termination unit 140, adhesive agent 399may be placed at the opening of through holes 150 and 155 to securelyfasten the fibers to the fiber termination unit. Adhesive agent 399 maybe any adhesive suitable for bonding optical fiber to plastic/metal(e.g., glue, epoxy). It is to be understood that, in contrast to theprior art, adhesive 399 does not necessarily have to comprise arefractive index-matching adhesive, as through holes 150 and 155 are notresponsible for coupling the ends of optical coupling of fibers 110 and115 to lenses 120 and 125 (i.e., adhesive 399 does not have to reduceany potential optical loss).

Furthermore, fiber termination unit 140 utilizes the above describedstructural components in addition to adhesive 399 to ensure sustainableconnection of optical fibers 110 and 115 to lenses 120 and 125 evenafter repeated insertion/removal of plug lens 130 into correspondingreceptacles. This more reliable connection allows for various plug lensdesigns more suitable, for example, to smaller form factor computingdevices.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram and a cross section of an embodiment of theinvention. At cross section A, it is shown that fibers 110 and 115 aresecurely positioned via fiber pusher 470 and grooves 460 and 465. Inthis embodiment, grooves 460 and 465 are shown to be “L-grooves;” thus,in this embodiment, fiber 110 is placed inside the “L” to contact bothsides of groove 460. Fiber pusher 470, when press-fit into cavity 440(via press-fit features 489), will press against fiber 110 to hold itbetween both sides of groove 460 as shown via inclined surfaces 499. Itis understood that in other embodiments, other shaped grooves includingat least two flat sides (e.g., “u-grooves,” “v-grooves”) and fiberpushers may be utilized to hold optical fiber in place to be opticallyaligned with a lens.

It is to be understood that, by keeping a more precise line of focus ofthe optical signal transfer between said optical fiber and said lenses,maintained optical alignment may reduce the adverse effects of dust orsmudge lens contamination over the life of the optical cable device.

Besides computing devices, it will be understood that many other typesof electronic devices may incorporate the one or more of the types ofoptical fiber connectors discussed above. Examples of other suchelectronic devices may include smartphones, tablet computers, mediadevices, multimedia devices, memory devices, storage devices, cameras,voice recorders, I/O devices, networking devices, gaming devices, gamingconsoles, televisions or audio/visual (A/V) equipment, or any otherelectronic device that might include such a connector.

Connectors such as those described above may be used to interconnectperipheral devices (which may be, for example, any of the same types ofdevices discussed above) with a receiving (i.e., connector) port of ahost device or system comprising a processor, a memory, antenna/RFcircuitry and a system bus. Said system bus may receive said data from aperipheral device and make said data accessible to the processor andmemory via the system bus. A receiving/connector port (i.e., plug) maybe built directly into a peripheral device (with or without a cord), ormay be interconnected to another device via a separate cable.

The above described antenna may be a directional antenna or anomni-directional antenna. As used herein, the term omni-directionalantenna refers to any antenna having a substantially uniform pattern inat least one plane. For example, in some embodiments, said antenna maybe an omni-directional antenna such as a dipole antenna, or a quarterwave antenna. Also for example, in some embodiments, said antenna may bea directional antenna such as a parabolic dish antenna, a patch antenna,or a Yagi antenna. In some embodiments, the host device or system mayinclude multiple physical antennas.

It is to be understood that said antenna and RF circuitry may comprise awireless interface to operate in accordance with, but not limited to,the IEEE 802.11 standard and its related family, Home Plug AV (HPAV),Ultra Wide Band (UWB), Bluetooth, WiMax, or any other form of wirelesscommunication protocol.

It is noted that terms like “preferably,” “commonly,” and “typically”are not utilized above to limit the scope of the claimed invention or toimply that certain features are critical, essential, or even importantto the structure or function of the claimed invention. Rather, theseterms are merely intended to highlight alternative or additionalfeatures that may or may not be utilized in a particular embodiment ofthe present invention.

The various assemblies described above could each also be referred to asa “subassembly.” Technically, an assembly may refer to a “finished”product, or a finished system or subsystem of a manufactured item, whilea subassembly generally is combined with other components or anothersubassembly to complete a subassembly. However, a subassembly is notdistinguished from an ‘assembly’ herein, and use of the different termsis solely for convenience in description. Reference to an assembly mayrefer to what may otherwise be considered a subassembly.

Having described the invention in detail and by reference to specificembodiments thereof, it will be apparent that modifications andvariations are possible without departing from the scope of theinvention defined in the appended claims. More specifically, althoughsome aspects of the present invention are identified herein as preferredor particularly advantageous, it is contemplated that the presentinvention is not necessarily limited to these preferred aspects of theinvention. Many modifications may be made to adapt the teachings of thepresent invention to a particular situation without departing from thescope thereof.

1. An apparatus comprising: a lens; an optical fiber component; a fibertermination unit including a through hole, a cavity accessible via thethrough hole, and a groove included in the cavity, the groove comprisingat least two flat sides; and a fiber pusher to at least partially fillthe cavity and to couple the optical fiber component to the at least twoflat sides of the groove; the optical fiber component to be opticallyaligned with the lens when coupled to the fiber pusher and the at leasttwo flat sides of the groove.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, the cavity toat least partially be filled with a refractive index gel to at leastpartially fill space between the groove of the fiber termination unitand the fiber pusher.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein therefractive index gel has a refractive index between 1.45 and 1.60. 4.The apparatus of claim 1, the fiber termination unit comprising aplastic material, the apparatus further comprising an adhesive suitableto bond the optical fiber component to the plastic material of the fibertermination unit at the through hole.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherethe groove of the fiber termination unit comprises an L-shaped groove.6. The apparatus of claim 5, the fiber pusher to include an inclinedsurface to securely couple the optical fiber to the two sides of theL-shaped groove of the fiber termination unit.
 7. The apparatus of claim1, the fiber pusher further formed to be press-fit into the cavity ofthe fiber termination unit.
 8. A method comprising: inserting an opticalfiber component into a fiber termination unit via a through hole, thefiber termination unit coupled to a lens and further including a cavityaccessible by the optical fiber via the through hole, and a grooveincluded in the cavity, the groove comprising at least two flat sides alens; and at least partially filing the cavity via a fiber pusher, thefiber pusher to couple the optical fiber component to the at least twoflat sides of the groove, the optical fiber component to be opticallyaligned with the lens when coupled to the fiber pusher and the at leasttwo flat sides of the groove.
 9. The method of claim 8, furthercomprising at least partially filling the cavity with a refractive indexgel to at least partially fill space between the groove of the fibertermination unit and the fiber pusher.
 10. The method of claim 9,wherein the refractive index gel has a refractive index between 1.45 and1.60.
 11. The method of claim 8, the fiber termination unit comprising aplastic material, the method further comprising applying an adhesivesuitable to bond the optical fiber component to the plastic material ofthe fiber termination unit at the through hole.
 12. The method of claim8, where the groove of the fiber termination unit comprises an L-shapedgroove.
 13. The method of claim 12, the fiber pusher to include aninclined surface to securely couple the optical fiber to the two sidesof the L-shaped groove of the fiber termination unit.
 14. The method ofclaim 8, the fiber pusher further formed to be press-fit into the cavityof the fiber termination unit.
 15. A system comprising: a processor; amemory; a system bus operatively coupled to the processor and thememory; and a connection port to receive optical data and to make saiddata accessible to the processor and the memory via the system bus, theconnection port capable of receiving an optical cable comprising a lens,an optical fiber component, a fiber termination unit including a throughhole, a cavity accessible via the through hole, and a groove included inthe cavity, the groove comprising at least two flat sides, and a fiberpusher to at least partially fill the cavity and to couple the opticalfiber component to the at least two flat sides of the groove, theoptical fiber component to be optically aligned with the lens whencoupled to the fiber pusher and the at least two flat sides of thegroove.
 16. The system of claim 15, the cavity to at least partially befilled with a refractive index gel to at least partially fill spacebetween the groove of the fiber termination unit and the fiber pusher,wherein the refractive index gel has a refractive index between 1.45 and1.60.
 17. The system of claim 15, where the groove of the fibertermination unit comprises an L-shaped groove.
 18. The system of claim17, the fiber pusher to include an inclined surface to securely couplethe optical fiber to the two sides of the L-shaped groove of the fibertermination unit.
 19. The system of claim 15, the fiber pusher furtherformed to be press-fit into the cavity of the fiber termination unit.20. The system of claim 15, further comprising: an antenna; and radiofrequency circuitry coupled to the antenna to receive signal data and tomake said signal data accessible to the processor and the memory via thesystem bus.